Oxford 1 Cardiff 3 (aet): Bluebirds forced to go the extra mile

Peter Whittingham hit a goal that deserved to win any match but Cardiff’s performance did not necessarily warrant the victory.

It took them until extra time to find a second goal, when Whittingham found the bottom right corner with a left-footed strike from 20 yards with 98 minutes on the clock.

And it certainly would not have pleased Malky Mackay that it took his side so long to beat a League Two team, especially after he complained about the timing of the fixture before the match.

Great start: Malky Mackay has two wins out of two as Cardiff boss

One of his new signings Craig Conway
will try to claim the Championship team’s opening strike on 12 minutes
but it will have to go down as an own goal.

He looked a shrewd piece of business
though, signed from Dundee United on a free in the summer, when he
reacted first to Jon Parkin’s low cross from the right that was blocked
by Jake Wright.

When he picked up the ball and whipped it across goal a second time it hit Wright and then Damien Batt on its way in.

But the home side equalised on 30
minutes. Jon-Paul Pittman hit a shot straight at Cardiff goalkeeper Tom
Heaton when through on goal but the rebound came out to Simon Clist, who
had played the initial pass, and he finished well.

The sides traded chances and on 58
minutes Ibrahim Farah crashed a 20-yard effort off the crossbar for
Cardiff, but as the ball came back out United broke straight away and
Pittman slipped just before he was about the finish from six yards out.

Cardiff’s quality eventually showed
through in extra time and substitute Nathaniel Jarvis made it look
comfortable. He lobbed Ryan Clarke in injury time, but it certainly was
not an easy victory.